By Paul Tero CHAPTER 8This command tells you the DNS server used (194.168.4.100) and the
IP address you are looking for (80.72.139.101). If nslookup didn’t respond,
then your Internet woes lie with your local DNS server^12. If you are at
home or in a small office, your DNS server is probably provided by your
broadband company.
They generally provide two or more of them, so it’s unlikely that they
will all fail. If you happen to know the IP address of a different name
server, you could query that instead (nslookup http://www.smashingmagazine.com
194.168.8.100), but it may well refuse to talk to a stranger. You’ll probably
need to complain to your broadband company about the problem instead.
fRee aDveRTiSing
Have you ever typed in a website address incorrectly and come up with
a branded page from your broadband provider? Instead of admitting
“I don’t know”, your local name
server is sneakily replying
with an alternative IP address
of its choice, promoting the
broadband company it is
owned by. It’s interesting
to see that the marketing
people are into DNS, and a
shame that their technical
colleagues didn’t stop them,
as this sort of practice makes
some automated networking
processes more difficult.
12 This is not a definitive diagnosis. This chapter presents a simplified account of many networking
and server processes, problems and solutions. It could be that some other bit of DNS software on your
own computer or a DNS relay on your router is failing.
Broadband company intercepting a non-existent
website.